Friday, December 22, 2017

"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House

Tom Givens says that panic is the result of not
having a pre-programmed response for that situation
that you can automatically default to.
You don't necessarily have to practice your
response for thousands of hours in order to engrain it.
Visualization works well for Olympic athletes. It will
work well for you. The more you practice visualization,
the more detailed it will become and the more effective
it will be.
Simply ask yourself, "What will I do if someone
attempts to rob the cashier?", "What will I do if
that guy walking towards me gets too close?", "What
will I do if I hear glass breaking in the middle of
the night and my daughter screaming from her bedroom?"
Answer your questions in detail. Go through the motions
of actually doing it (without your gun drawn).
Now, if the situation should occur, you will be
thinking, "Okay, I've done this before. I can handle
this."

Should more people bear arms after Schlenker shooting?http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/crime/2017/12/01/should-more-people-take-arms-after-schlenker-shooting/908754001/
Excerpt:
"We (law enforcement) call ourselves the first responders,
but in reality, we're the second responders,"
said former Melbourne police Detective Mark Laderwarg
"I'm firmly convinced we can no longer sit back and pray
the fight isn't brought to us,"
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a YouTube video
he posted in June on the "Brevard Sheriff" account.
"If there's an active shooter, until law enforcement arrives,
it's up to you to neutralize or eliminate the threat."
"(The gun) does no good in your car or in your house,"
Ivey said.

Words have definitions, as in a scholarly dictionary,
as American Heritage (not a popular dictionary, as in Webster's).
[No, the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) is not American
English. It is British English. The two diverged in the
time of Shakespeare when English speakers moved to America.]
Bad guys use violence to get what they want.
Good guys use force to defend themselves from bad guys.
Good guys don't commit violence.
Words don't necessarily have meaning (semantics).
In English, the sentence is really the minimal unit of
meaning. Yes, there are one word sentences.
In English prose, the paragraph is the standard
unit of prose. Yes, there are one sentence paragraphs.
But, it generally takes more than one sentence, so as
to eliminate ambiguity.

Why? On the subject of Sight Radius. https://handguncombatives.blogspot.com/2017/11/why-on-subject-of-sight-radius.html
This article has nothing to do with sight radius.
Dave Spaulding is talking about how essential it is
that the student know why he is using a certain piece
of equipment or why he is using a certain technique.
Excerpt:
I am always tickled when a student just tells me the
truth when I ask him (or her) why they do something
questionable. "Yeah, I think these sights (technique,
tactic, etc. . . . place one here) looks really cool. It
makes me feel awesome." Beer will do this as well
and will not place you in as much danger as looking
cool in a gunfight, providing you don’t drink and
drive. Of course, my response will be "how is
(insert whatever here) ability to enhance your
performance working for you? If it is not enhancing
anything then WHY are you doing it?" Once again,
we are back to why.
In the case of cool looking sights,
the view of the sights that is important is from
the rear . . . not from the side where "cool looking"
is determined. So which is it . . . cool looking or
performance enhancing? If you can’t answer this
question, then is cool looking a good enough answer?
Only you can decide but one thing I will offer,
"shooting cool" can be fatal.

Get on Target: Overcoming Anticipationhttps://www.concealedcarry.com/training-2/get-on-target-overcoming-anticipation/
Untrained shooters anticipate the recoil and
push against it. This is one of many autonomic
nervous system responses to the recoil (push) and
report (bang). The way to defeat your autonomic
nervous system responses is to strive for and
achieve a surprise break. This is subtle. This
is difficult to do by yourself. Ask for help.
Get a coach. Get an instructor. Yeah, you may
have to pay them. It's worth it. You get what
you pay for in this world.

With the decline in sales of firearms in the U.S.
(in large part due to the easing of fear because of the
Trump presidency) the prices have been coming down.
The price point for a reliable self defense pistol
used to be $500. I just got a Ruger American in .45 ACP
with two magazines for $450 retail. So, things are
good for the consumers these days.
Truly ambidextrous pistols with adjustable
grip size at reasonable prices are the:
Ruger American (~$450), H&K P30 and variants (~$550),
and the Springfield Armory XD variants (~$550).

Excerpt from a letter that I sent to several students in an upcoming class --
---
You must be able to easily and quickly field strip your pistol and
re-assemble your pistol in the dark (or with a blind fold on). If you
can't do this with your pistol, your pistol's design is wrong. The pistol
should not have springs shooting out when you field strip it. The pistol
should not have small pieces falling apart when you field strip it.
If you disassemble beyond field stripping then you may have springs and
small parts flying all over the place. So, you should have a
gunsmith do any disassembly beyond field stripping. Or, if you feel
compelled to do it yourself, do it inside a clear plastic bag, so you
don't lose pieces; and video record it, so you get all the pieces back
in the correct place. Yes, badly designed pistols may be re-assembled
incorrectly, causing deadly problems.
Never disassemble more than one pistol at a time. If you get
parts mixed up between the pistols, you are demanding trouble.
And Murphy's Law will oblige.
Difficulty field stripping and assembling your pistol will create a
barrier to cleaning your pistol. So, you won't regularly clean your
pistol as you should. [Instead of watching that ball game on TV,
I'm going to clean my pistols. Ah, I can feel my character improving
and my soul maturing.]
---
Don't use a revolver for combat. They take too long to reload and
reloading is much more difficult than with a modern semi-auto pistol.
No, revolvers are not more reliable than semi-auto pistols. Anyone
who tells you that is ignorant, to put it politely. If you open up
a revolver, you will see many tiny parts that have to be precisely
timed. It looks like the inside of your grand father's wind up pocket
watch. The more moving parts a mechanism has, the less reliable it is.
The ammunition capacity is too low. The reload capacity is too
low.
There is no technical or tactical advantage to using a revolver.
Anyone who tells you that there is is wrong. Tell me the reasons
that they gave you and I will explain why.
---
Winning in combat depends on speed, accuracy, and power.
You can control speed and accuracy in real time. Power is what
you bring to the fight. So, you might as well carry the most
powerful cartridge that you can shoot accurately. The NRA
recommends 9mm to .45 ACP. Anything smaller than a 9mm
has too low a probability of stopping the attack. (It is
ineffective.) Anything larger than a .45 ACP will make
accurate shooting difficult because the recoil is too great.
I have standardized my pistols on the .45 ACP cartridge
(so I don't have to stock more than one pistol ammunition) because
terminal ballistics (effect on target) is determined by penetration.
Penetration is determined by momentum. Momentum is
determined by mass. So, you should throw the most massive
bullet that you can. No, as a matter of fact, bullet speed
doesn't matter that much in our context. No, over penetration
is not a realistic concern, it almost never happens. Because pistol
ammunition is ballistically deficient. If we knew we were going
to be in a fight, we would be armed with a rifle or shotgun.
We only carry pistols because they are convenient and
concealable.
---
If your pistol has a magazine release in some position that does
not allow easy one handed operation, you don't have a combat
pistol.
You're not going to have two hands in combat. You'll be
carrying a baby. You'll be injured. Murphy's Law guarantees it.
---
Just because you are right handed does not mean you are
going to be right handed in combat. So, your pistol must be
ambidextrous.
The Glocks and S&W M&P's that allow putting the magazine
release on either side are not ambidextrous. The SA XD's and
the Ruger American's are ambidextrous (and many others).
---
If your pistol does not have a trigger guard, it is not
a modern combat pistol. Get rid of such pistols before you
have a negligent discharge.

In a standard full size (not compact or sub compact)
pistol chambered for .45 ACP, a double stack magazine will
hold about 13 rounds and a single stack magazine will hold
8 rounds. So, why does the Ruger American hold 10 rounds?
In an effort to make the grip slimmer to better fit people
with smaller hands, the magazine is slimmer. It is actually
in between a double stack and a single stack.
So, ordering common full size self defense pistols
in .45 ACP from fattest grip to thinnest grip (in my opinion)
we have:
(magazine capacity + 1 in the chamber)
Glock G21, 13+1
Para, 14+1
Springfield Armory XD, 13+1
Heckler & Kock USP, 12+1
Heckler & Kock HK45, 10+1
Smith & Wesson M&P, 10+1
Ruger American, 10+1
CZ 97 B, 10+1
1911 type single stack pistols, 8+1
(Of course, you can change the stocks, back strap, etc.
to change the size of the grip.)

Avoid holsters that require the use of the trigger finger of the firing hand to
actuate a button to release the pistol, such as the Blackhawk SERPA holster.
Because, the common factor in documented negligent discharges is an unintended
continuation of the movement of the trigger finger toward the trigger due to the
"push button" motion required by the trigger finger to initiate firearm release.
The manufacturer recommends that you not insert the pistol backwards into
the holster, because the pistol can get stuck in the holster. This is the primary
technique taught for support side hand presentation in the federal law enforcement
training schools (FLETC, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center).
The release mechanism may fail to release the pistol due to debris (dirt,
small pebbles, snow) lodging behind the release button.
Citation – email from U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240; dated July 5, 2012; from
Acting Associate Director Louis Rowe; reference W34 (2460).
Many IDPA clubs forbid this holster. The Federal Law Enforcement
Training Center and the U.S. Interior Department forbid this holster.
But, the U.S. Army has hundreds of thousands of these holsters. Well,
that says something about the procurement personnel in the U.S. Army.

***** Instructors *****

Instructors, you are the leaders of your class, not
just the teachers of your class. Take heed,
"How Leaders Build -- And Destroy -- Trust"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2017/11/27/how-leaders-build-and-destroy-trust/#775b1c4f40e5

Man stealing AR-15 assault rifle from police car caught on surveillance video
https://www.yahoo.com/gma/man-stealing-ar-15-assault-rifle-police-car-060616142--abc-news-topstories.html
What gun control laws would have prevented this?
Where did this criminal get his gun? From the cops.

Husband and Wife Christmas Shopping:
A couple were in a busy shopping center just before Christmas.
The wife suddenly noticed that her husband was missing and as
they had a lot to do, she called him on the mobile.
The wife said, "Where are you, you know we have lots to do."
He said, "You remember the jewelers we went into about 10 years
ago, and you fell in love with that diamond necklace?
I could not afford it at the time and I said that one day I
would get it for you?"
Little tears started to flow down her cheek and she got all
choked up . . .
"Yes, I do remember that store." she replied.
"Well, I'm in the gun shop next door to that store."

If you would like the lesson plans for my
NRA Defensive Pistol course, send me an email,
and I'll send you the latest version. The lesson
plans constantly change as I take courses,
communicate with other instructors,
and stay abreast of best practices.

Friday, December 1, 2017

"IF YOU PREPARE FOR THE EMERGENCY, THE EMERGENCY CEASES TO EXIST!"
-- Dr. Sherman House

Please read the section under "Graphic Content" in this
month's issue of the Rangemater newsletter, http://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/2017-12_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
This is reality.
A couple nights ago my downstairs neighbor called me to help her,
as some one was pounding on her doors and windows. I got home in about
15 minutes. She had also called the police, before calling me.
The Metro Nashville Police hadn't shown up. She left to stay at a
friend's house. I waited for the police. The police never showed up.

Self defense is combat. (Whether you believe
it or not.) Combat training is dangerous. If
the training is not dangerous, it is not realistic
combat training. (Sorry, but that's just true.)
In the Marine Corps, Marines sometimes get injured
and sometimes die in training. Because it is real.
So, if you attend a gun school that brags about zero
injuries in the history of their school, you can
rest assured that they either don't do combat training
or they only formed recently.
If you make peanut butter at home in small
batches, you can maintain zero rat feces in your
peanut butter. But, if you mass produce peanut
butter, it is impossible to have zero rat feces
in your product. So, the FDA has standards for
acceptable levels of rat feces in peanut butter.
If the inspectors test and find the product is
within standards, it is sold for human consumption.
If not, it is labeled "Not for human consumption"
and sold. Similarly, any large gun school will
have a certain percentage of incompetents attending.
Screening for criminal background, as some do,
will not prevent the incompetent from attending.
So, you get people shooting themselves while
holstering and sometimes worse than that.
How can you avoid that situation?
Attend small classes. Many instructors limit their
classes to 5 persons or less. Such instructors
are worth finding. All of the NRA classes that
I have taken have had 5 students or less; in some
I was the only student.

Any conflict (a gunfight, a divorce, etc.)
should be as short as you can make it. The
shorter it is, the less hurt you get. What
happens to the other person is incidental.
Because your goal is to avoid getting hurt.
If your goal is to wreak revenge or to mete
out punish, YOU ARE WRONG! Jesus commanded you
to forgive, to free you from the mental entanglement.
Not, to be nice to the other person. God is
not going to be nice to that bad guy. God is
going to put that bad guy in hell for eternity.
You forgive the pedophile, but you don't
let him work in the Sunday school nursery.
Similarly, you forgive your attacker, but you
still shoot him until he stops his attack.
Forgiveness is not pacifism. Pacifists
are not practicing Christian theology.
They're just stupid.

A New Record!http://defense-training.com/2017/a-new-record/
Excerpt:
"That nation is surest to live in peace,
that is most capable of making war;
and a man with a sword always by his side,
shall have least occasion to make use of it."
-- John Trenchard

2018!http://defense-training.com/2017/2018/
Excerpt:
It is our honor and privilege to advance our Art,
and teach it to the worthy, aware, and audacious
who know and understand that victory is the only
reality in the universe!

Be careful thinking that because some law enforcement agency or
military unit bought it in large quantities, it must be good,
because they surely know what they are doing. This is in general false.
Government agencies are required by law to give the contract to the
lowest bidder. There is rampant corruption in the government procurement
systems. (hundreds of Navy Admirals are presently under investigation for
corruption). The U.S. Army has purchased hundreds of thousands of the
Blackhawk SERPA holsters. Even though they knew that the
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) and the U.S. Interior
Department have forbidden these holsters. Because, continuation of
the motion to release the pistol will fire the pistol; small rocks
or snow can get into the release mechanism preventing the pistol from
being released; inserting the pistol into the holster backwards (which
is the technique taught at FLETC for support hand only presentation)
will cause the pistol (usually a Glock) to get stuck in the holster.

It's worth your time to go into the gun stores and dry fire and disassemble
and play with all the pistol you can. So, that when a student attends your
class with some strange pistol, it's okay, because you've handled it before
in the gun store.

The Wolf and the Lamb (Aesop's Fables)
A WOLF, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold,
resolved not to lay violent hands on him, but to
find some plea to justify to the Lamb the Wolf’s
right to eat him. He thus addressed him:
“Sirrah, last year you grossly insulted me.”
“Indeed,” bleated the Lamb in a mournful tone of
voice, “I was not then born.”
Then said the Wolf,
“You feed in my pasture.”
“No, good sir,” replied the Lamb,
“I have not yet tasted grass.”
Again said the Wolf, “You drink of my well.”
“No,” exclaimed the Lamb, “I never yet drank water,
for as yet my mother’s milk is both food and drink to me.”
Upon which the Wolf seized him and ate him up,
saying, “Well! I won’t remain supperless, even though
you refute every one of my imputations.”
The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny.
[Translated by George Fyler Townsend.
Aesop's Fables (p. 15). Amazon Digital Services, Inc.]

Ken Alexandrow of Agape Tactical https://agapetactical.com/about-us/
spoke to the Tennessee Firearms Association monthly
meeting last night, 11/21/17, at the Golden Corral in
Nashville, TN. I paraphrase --
Concerning Church Security
No one rises to the occasion. That's just a myth.
They sink to the level of training that they have mastered.
What does the bad guy fear? Not death, because he
plans to die (to get his 72 virgins) or thinks he can get
away without dying. The bad guy's greatest fear is
mission failure. So, if you make him believe that he will
fail at your venue, he will leave and go to another venue.
For church security (or generally for security of your
organization) you need to implement:
Deterrence - The South Carolina mass murderer went
to the College of Charleston, but left when he saw the
armed security guards. He then went to several churches,
but left each one because a greeter approached him in the
parking lot to greet him. (He had many racist and white
supremacist bumper stickers on his pick up truck.)
Anything bad that happens in your church has to come
through your parking lot. So, that is where you must
intercept it. Finally, he went to the Emmanuel AME
church which he knew was a gun free zone, because the
pastor had publicly declared his church to be so.
No one greeted him in the parking lot. So, he walked in.
[When I was working with the Dowelltown United Methodist
Church, I put up posters all over the area inviting
people to our Defensive Pistol classes and advertised
widely to ensure it was common knowledge that DUMC
was not a gun free zone. - Jon Low] Don't post signs
indicating that your church is a gun free zone. That's
just telling criminals that it is safe to prey on
unarmed victims here. If you're afraid of scaring
off liberals, adopt a don't ask don't tell policy.
Make sure your security team knows who in the
congregation is armed. If someone not on the security
team is armed in church, explain to them that we have
a security team. So, please let the security team
deal with the situation. If you present a weapon, the
security team might think you are the bad guy.
(Ken was speaking in the context of mega-churches
where you don't recognize everyone.)
Detection - There is nothing racist about
profiling criminals. Shake the prerson's hand.
Maintain your grip. Don't let go of his hand.
With your left hand feel his waist area.
(87% of the American population is right handed and
so will carry weapons on the right side waist line.)
If you feel a gun there, maintain a grip on his right
hand and ask him about the gun.
Denial - If you are not happy with his answer,
ask him to leave. Your church is a private business.
You can deny service to anyone for any reason.
If he won't leave, call the police and ask the police
to arrest him for trespassing.
No, you don't have to post "No Trespassing" signs.
Just call the police. The police will arrest him.
DON'T LET HIM INTO THE BUILDING!
Once the bad guy is in your building, it's
too late, you're screwed. You're now going to have
a fire fight with a high body count. Unless someone
immediately stops the attack.
The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a
gun is a good guy with a gun. If the good guy is
competent. Which means training and practice.
Nothing in the Bible says you have to bow your
head and close your eyes when praying. The members
of the Emmanuel AME church were killed when they
closed their eyes to pray. Many pastors have been
killed when they closed their eyes to pray. Pray
with your eyes open and looking around.

Dr Kenji Inaba is a trauma surgeon at the University
of Southern California. He is also the director of
their surgical ICU.http://blog.ercast.org/gunshot-groin-kenji-inaba/
Bleeding from an area that is a junction of an
extremity and the torso (and neck) that is not
amenable to hemorrhage control by tourniquet.

If you would like the lesson plans for my
NRA Defensive Pistol course, send me an email,
and I'll send you the latest version. Because
it is constantly changing. Because I am
constantly taking courses to improve my knowledge
of the subject.